English
Italiano
Andrea Iannone rediscovered the joy of qualifying in the MotoGP on Saturday, competing, among other things, in his first Sprint. In qualifying, the Maniac missed the Q2 by only two tenths, finishing 19th in the race, 25 seconds behind Jorge Martin.
The glass is certainly half full for the rider from Vasto. He showed up in Malaysia without having done a single day of testing, so he had to race against the clock. But, in the end, the Pertamina VR46 team rider is happy with what he did and and with his progress.
"What can I say about today," he began. "I have speed. The problem is the physical aspect, since I lack the necessary preparation. For example, at turn four, my arms were not supporting me, even though my body wanted me to go forward," he said, smiling.
Andrea, what can you tell us about this Saturday's Sprint?
"To tell you the truth, I only did one lap of the sprint with my actual potential. I could easily do the race on 1'59"5, but you have to be physically prepared. In the SBK, you don't even have one percent of the downforce you have here in the MotoGP. In fact, it all becomes more complicated because, when braking, the bike exhausts you, generating a lot of force when entering. Also, the acceleration is impressive, as is braking, where you have to be very fast and, at the same time, in cornering. In this MotoGP, you have to do everything to the max because, as soon as you slow down a little, you then lose a lot."
Did you imagine this?
"I didn't expect this. Bu,t today, I more or less started to understand the limit of the Ducati, becoming aware that you have to do everything to the max. The stronger you are, the more you bring out the qualities and potential of the bike."
In the race, you came close to the group made up of Mir, Raul Fernandez, and Nakagami...
"I could've been faster than the group in front of me, but I said to myself, where do I go, what's the point? You have to prepare well for a weekend like this, because it's crazy to be here like me. The fact is that I know what a MotoGP is now, and I understand the value of the physical aspect. Moreover, I didn't even choose an easy track, since we know Sepang well. In fact I had every possible pain a man can imagine this morning. My toes even hurt. I'm walking on my heels. I asked myself, did I even use my toes? So it's best not to think about it. That's my weakness."
Too bad about qualifying. By two tenths, you could've been in the Q2.
"In qualifying, I could've gone straight into the Q2. If I hadn't made the mistake at fourteen, where I downshifted the gear into first, it would've been different. Unfortunately, I put it in first gear and lost the entire distance and acceleration phase and also the whole straight. Finally, I even missed the last corner. It's too bad, but you have to consider that I came to this qualifying with only fourty-five laps ridden on this bike."
